Dark Days
by Maz1
Summary: 500 years after Final Fantasy 7, Zorry of Bone Village makes a startling discovery which will eventually lead to a chain of events involving the FF7 characters.
1. After Dark

Dark Days   
  
  
The city was quiet as Zorry of Bone Village picked her way across the ruins, she had been warned off the Forgotten City since she was very small, but it was Midsummer's Eve and the Sleeping Forest awoke, and besides, what could be here? Certainly not the ghost of the flower girl who'd died here all those hundreds of years ago. Still, she made sure the small axe she had brought was securely fastened to her belt. Though she was only twelve she was two years ahead of her class in school and regardless that Bone Village didn't train fighters, a travelling Materia master had taught her materia usage, martial arts and axe-fighting skills.   
  
Zorry headed towards the large, plant-like structure at the end of the central path, after the footpath she was on split into three. She felt it; she was headed towards the centre of the City. Presently, Zorry came across a massive shell-like building, like the ones she had glimpsed down the other two paths, except this one had a sparkling blue pool to the right of it, well, too big for a pool, about the size of a quarter of a football pitch, within it held the clearest glittering water Zorry had ever seen, though you couldn't quite see to the bottom of it.   
  
Zorry found herself advancing towards the structure, building, whatever you could call it, and moved inside. She walked around the inside of the shell, following the curve and found herself looking upon a perfectly round pool, in it was a fish and some green seaweed, as well as some of that crystal clear water in the pond outside. As she watched the fishes placid eyes, for no reason apart from she felt it was necessary, the sun set outside, as it embraced the horizon the crystals at the entrance and dotted around the shell began to glow a bright greeny-blue and the water receded and the fish slowly disappeared, revealing a smooth diamond staircase, down which Zorry began to descend, she had only enough consciousness to check her weapon one more time.   
  
Down, down, down she went, following the spiral of the staircase. She reached the ledge across more of that clear water from the Altar; she felt an extremely strong Holy presence all around her, though in the centre of the altar she could see, from the other side of the water that surrounded it, a stain, a blemish on the otherwise perfect marble. It was blood, 'Flower girl's blood.' Zorry thought with a shiver, 'Over 500 years and it's still there.' She saw something glint, at the edge of the Altar, just above the waterline. She stepped gingerly across the water on the step-stones and crossed, avoiding the bloodstain, to the edge and leant over, there was something in a small crevice, tunnelled into the rock, not quite out of sight. She wedged her hand into the gap and eased it out. It was materia, black, and shiny. Obviously hidden here because someone didn't want others to have it. She gazed into it, and realized, though it shone brightly, it cast no reflections in it, and there was something about it, something that didn't quite feel right, a dark presence. She shoved it in her pocket and hopped back to the other side of the water. She felt a chill wind, that wasn't right, she was underground, looking over her shoulder she found that where she had been a man now stood, dressed in black, Japanese style, he had long silver hair which he wore loose and a thin, lean face on which he wore an evil smile, but the most striking thing about him were his eyes, they glowed a bright blue-green, what is it called again? Mako Green, she'd seen that colour somewhere before, the LifeStream, she'd seen it in pictures of the lifestream, well a very close match, but that wasn't it. Her mind flashed back to her history class, to those pictures of, oh what were they called? SOLDIER. But he didn't look like SOLDIER in the way he composed himself, she racked her mind, he was the one wasn't he? The one born to that scientist injected with Jenova, she couldn't recall his name for as she watched, he noticed her and drew a long sword, at least five foot, CRAP! The Masamune, she'd forgotten. Zorry took up her axe, aimed and threw, it knocked his blade giving her just enough time to speed out of there as fast as she could. When she stopped to look back, she found that he wasn't following her, he was moving slowly, grinning, almost in a dream state, walking through the city as though recalling a sweet memory, relishing it all over again. She ran again, through the Sleeping forest and back to the village, back to her home. 


	2. Journeys

Zorry picked her way through Bone Village, it was quiet and dark, she prayed to herself that her mother-  
"Zoramati Hart! You get over here right now!"  
Too late.  
"Zoramati you're pushing your luck!"  
Lights switched on in a few houses nearby, Zorry mumbled to herself under her breath, and crept towards her house with an angered mother waiting outside it, she was frowning, she had beautifull short shiny blonde hair and blue eyes, her lips were full and red, and she was tall and thin, if Zorry weren't so apprehensive she might have stopped, as on many occasions, to marvel at the difference between herself and her mother, Zorry herself had long dark brown/black hair, straight, and shiny, she had grey eyes, so pale they were almost white, they were often misty, and flashed like diamonds when she was nervous, or angry, they shone like the brightest stars when she was happy. She often clipped her hair up, and wore dark clothes, generally she was a subdued girl, whereas her mother was outgoing, she told Zorry that she took after her father, who had died when she was small, so Zorry never knew him properly.  
"Zoramati Hart you get inside THIS MINUTE!"  
Zorry ran over to her house and rushed inside, her mother slammed the door, more lights.  
  
"Mum, before you say anything I-"  
"Have to provide me with an explaination as to exactly WHY you didn't respect the rules!?"  
"I got lost."  
"Listen, Zorry, I wouldn't mind, usually, you know I'm a leaniant kind of mum, but we're going away tomorrow and-"  
"I know mum, I didn't mean to, I'm sorry."  
Her mother softened, "OK, get to sleep."  
  
Zorry ran upstairs and into her bedroom, she changed into her nighty and turned off the light, picking up a torch. She nestled into her warm, soft bed and took out the materia orb, or was it materia? She'd never heard of a black-coloured materia before...She sighed at it, then got up and put it in her knapsack, then she slept again, a restless sleep filled with dreams, revelations, memories and nightmares.  
  
Next day Zorry awoke to the sound of excavation, the daily dig for treasure, she ached all over, memories flashing through her mind, her mother bustled downstairs preparing food for a day of travel, she called up the stairs to Zorry "Get up Zorry! You can sleep on the way!"  
So that was it, Zorry grabbed her knapsack, got dressed and ran downstairs, got on the coach and fell asleep, the journey was pretty much a dream from that point, changing vehicles and sleeping, but eventually she arrived somewhere, she'd explore tomorrow. 


	3. Arrivals

Zorry woke in a warm, earthen room in a soft, downy bed, she lingered a few moments, still half-dreaming, then she opened her fully, letting them adjust and taking stock of her surroundings. There were two two more, bed, like hers, one next to hers and one across the room, next to latter was a fridge, and between Zorry's bed and the opposite bed was the door, framed with oak. The earth was a dull red-orange and the room smelt faintly of dried lavender, the beds had soft, clean sheets and pillows plumped up and comfortable, the room could easily be described as 'cosy'.  
  
She got up and changed out of a suitcase beside her bed, not paying more than a little attention to the clothes she was putting on, or her outward appearance. Tripping on the rug in her eagerness to explore, she got up and paced herself. She remembered, before she left, to grab her knapsack and check it's contents. She found the doorhandle and the door swung inwards.  
  
Stepping out, Zorry found herself on a wooden landing, overlooking another red-orange room full of cheery people. The landing, a staircase on the right and several tables dotted about were all made of oak, again. On some tables a bright flame flicked and danced playfully on a white candle. There was a desk on the landing, again, oak, with a rosy-cheeked woman beaming at her from behind her.  
"Sleep well?"  
"Yes, thankyou, miss?"  
"Sweeney." she chuckled "You were all tuckered out like a baby by the time you got here. Oh, and your mam said you can do what you like today, but she has a surprise for you tonight so be sure to be back early."  
"Thanks, I will."  
She half-skipped down the stairs and peered out of the door, then stepped through for a better view.  
And what a view? She saw that the room, and all adjoining rooms, that she had just exited had been cut straight from the cliffside. There were other rooms too, and houses and huts made from bamboo, built half-way up the cliff with ladders to reach them. To the left, and stright on was the entrance to the village, if that's what it could be called. A little behind, steps were leading up to what seemed like a complex of more caves, maybe containing more homes, or shops. Directly ahead, the floor raised slightly, almost like a platform, and in the centre a big bonfire raged and flicked, with a magical, and mysterious feel to it.  
"Wow..." she breathed  
"It's really somethin' isn't it?"  
She started at the man she hadn't heard approach her from behind.  
"Yeah, you never get used to it, never."  
"It's, it's so beautifull." She turned to him, "Oh! I'm Zorry, by the way."  
He shook her hand, gripping it firmly."Ungar, I come here every year, it's great."  
She smiled at him, "I think I'm gonna like it here."  
"Well then," he said, raising his voice, "I better get to to it! See you later."  
He edged past her and climbed one of the nearby ladders. She walked towards the flame, wanting a closer look, and was nearly toppled over by two red animals tearing past her, one called out to the other, "I'm gonna getcha O! I'm gonna catcha!" to which the other replied "No you aren't! I'm faster than you!" the first pounced on the second and bit it's ear playfully, they wrestled around for a few minutes and then seperated, panting. Zorry approached them,  
"Hi, I'm Zorry."  
She examined them, they were a light reddish colour with fur all over their bodies, they had long brown manes and bright red eyes, they were muscular like dogs, but elegant like cats, they turned to her, still out of breath.  
"Hi, my name's Jequel, and this," he indicated towards the other, "Is my sister, Ombari, she's a nitwit."  
"I am not!" she protested  
"Yes you are! Nitwit, nitwit, nit-"  
A deep, throaty voice sounded from behind Zorry, she jumped,  
"Jequel, what have I told you about calling your sister names?"  
Zorry turned to face the creature behind her, he was obviously the same species as Jequel and Ombari, but there were some noticable differences between them, his fur was of a darker colour, and at the end of his tail a bright fire burned, one eyes was scarred over and she noticed several other scars, as well as a "XIII" tatoo on his left foreleg. Around each ankle was a bronze bangle and his mane was braided and had feathers and thread woven into it to form a kind of headdress, his remaining eye was amber and he was much larger than either Ombari or Jequel.  
Jequel shuffled his feet about and looked at the larger animal,  
"Ummmm, don't say it if it is less than three syllables?"  
Zorry admired his cheek, she would never have worked up the guts to backchat a creature of majesty such as this, he growled,  
"I said NOT to call your sister names nomatter how many syllables they have, is that clear?"  
"Yes."  
"Good."  
He turned to leave and Jequel muttered something under his breath,  
"Don't know how he does that, like he has some sort of radar, so annoying, grrr."  
Zorry called out to the larger creature,  
"W-wait!"  
He turned to her,  
"What is it?"  
"W-well, I have a few questions I want to ask, and I was thinking, maybe you could help me, or tell me who could help-my name is Zoramati Hart."  
"I am Nanaki, Protector of Cosmo Canyon, and I think I can help you, come with me." 


	4. Strife

"This is the observatory, step in, please."  
Zorry stepped onto the small platform, Nanaki walked over to a glowing button and nudged it with his nose, he stepped onto the platform and it shuddered into life, Zorry almost fell over from the jolt, and as it rose into a hollowed out space the lights dimmed and the universe materialised around her taking her breath away.  
"This is...amazing, I can't believe it."  
"My grandfather constructed it...you're the first person other than me to see this in almost five hundred years."  
She stood in silence, taking in her beautiful suroundings, around her, stars were born, waned and died, planets were formed and crumbled and races dried up,  
"I brought you up here to show you this, something very terrible and unthinkable that almost happened a long time ago,"  
As she watched, a planet drew closer, many colourfull spirits swirled around it, and then begain to disspate, eventually she realised they were being drawn to particular points on the globe and destroyed. Watching longer a meteor streaked towards the planet, a rocket was sent and collided with it with a crash, and she looked away, almost blinded by the light energy emitted, when she looked back, the planet was gone, replaced by just a few lonely fragments of rock, she reached out without knowing to touch...then curled her hand back, she noticed Nanaki was watching her,  
"I-what IS this?"  
"So you don't understand," he seemed disappointed, as though she had let him down, suddenly she realised that he had seen something unknown in her, she answered slowly, and surely, savouring the words as though they were the last she would ever speak,  
"I will."  
He nodded, listening not to what she had said but to what she had not said, the unspoken word, the unthunk thought,  
"I brought someone back, I think I did, and...I think-I think it was Sephiroth,"  
Suddenly Nanaki's eyes lit up with a fire brighter than that burning on the plateau, it was fear, she realised, he's afraid, a powerfull ancient creature afraid.  
"How?"  
She took the black stone out and showed it to him, it glimmered in the light for a moment, then turned completely black, it was fascinating, sometimes it shone, with a dark light darker than any natural light could be and sometimes it glittered, now and again you could see straight through it and at other times it was clear with a dark mist, right now it was perfectly black, a mini hole in the universe into which light poured endlessly, she wondered at it, it cast no shadow, but where it's shadow should be, anything that entered seemed to be grasped by an inexplicable fear, petrified and killed in a heartbeat by some unknown power.  
"I found it in the Forgotten City, on the flower girl's altar. It was in a little alcove, when I took it out...I forget what happened, my memory blurs around there, but I saw him, I saw...Sephiroth."  
"It appears that it awakened Sephiroth, he couldn't rest even now, he felt your power and now he has arisen."  
"...It's my fault isn't it?"  
"It was inevitable."  
The silence grew, it ebbed and throbbed and suffocated, it was stifling, ringing around Zorry's head like so many alarm bells, she couldn't break it, it overpowered her and she looked pleading at the wise creature, begging him to save her.  
"There is one thing we have to do, the only thing we can do,"  
She sighed with releif, suddenly exhausted from the long battle with silence, he noticed,   
"You had better go, keep your mother happy and come back tomorrow."  
She nodded, unable to utter a word, and left. 


End file.
